


Knightmare

by Thenakedcat



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Nightmares, Shitty Human New Age Arts and Crafts, Siblings, Terezi/Glitter OTP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-06
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 11:25:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thenakedcat/pseuds/Thenakedcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fic inspired by Dave's dialog in the Act 6 Intermission 3 flashes. </p><p>Rose is concerned for her brother and decides to address this through 5th grade art projects. Terezi just wants to lick the glitter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knightmare

**== > Rose: Break your brother’s fall.**

 

It catches you unawares--something of an accomplishment, given your God Tier prescience, but unlike Vriska your powers are much less about manipulating probability of random events and much more about recognizing the plot arc of the universe. This comes in very handy for understanding the _progression_ of events when SBURB decides give TV Tropes a run for its money but pinpointing the exact moment something is going to happen is still more Dave’s bailiwick.

So even though you may have had a vague inkling that walking down this particular corridor on this particular day was unwise, you remain in the dark as to why this should be until your Meddling Seers Stitch ‘n’ Lick ‘n’ Bitch with Terezi is interrupted by the sudden materialization of your ectosibling’s scrawny ass (and, to be sure, the rest of him as well) above you in midair with the usual gravitational consequences. His bony elbow catches you in the ribs, knocking the wind out of you with a startled “OOF!”

As soon as you’re capable of real words again, you smack Dave lightly upside the head and attempt to shove him off onto the floor. There will clearly be no assistance forthcoming from Terezi, who finds the entire situation funny enough that she is bent over double. “Really now,” you chide, “if you’re bored enough to be lurking in the ceiling and ambushing innocent bystanders, you’ve got enough free time to clean that den of filth and shitty swords you call a room...” You could go on in this vein for some time, but stop short when you realize that Dave is not, in fact, wearing his god hoodie and a shit-eating grin but rather a t-shirt and boxers with his shades badly askew, revealing a dazed thousand-yard stare.

He is also hyperventilating and repeating to himself, “Notdeadyetnotdeadyetnotdeadyet.”

Your Light powers kick in immediately to reconstruct the sequence of events that landed Dave here: had a vivid nightmare (Most likely about Lord English and the shattering of the fabric of his element. He hasn’t told you in so many words but it’s clearly stuck in his mind these last few weeks.), made a small reflexive hop through time to outrun the danger, got tripped up by the space-time snarl of the Furthest Ring, ended up using you as a crash-landing site.

The thought kicks you in the same feels as pictures of sick ponies.

“Dave. You’re awake. Everything’s fine. You can calm down now.”

He swallows hard and mumbles, “‘Course it is. Cooler than ice. Cooler than dry ice. Cooler than superfluid liquid helium. Uh. Pop quiz that I totally know the answer to. Where the fuck are we?”

You only roll your eyes in response. It takes some doing since the two of you are still of a height and Dave is still half asleep and half scared out of his gourd, but you manage to slide out from under him and haul both of you up onto your feet. He reels a little bit and tries to look like he totally meant to swan-dive teleport in his jammies. You point him in the direction of his room and give an encouraging nudge. “Why don’t you go get dressed and take a hot shower, before you scandalize our delicate female sensibilities any further? We’ll be in the common room when you’re...I won’t say ‘decent’ but at least ‘not half-naked and clammy’.”

Dave heads off in that direction without argument, which itself would be reason enough to worry. It seems likely that this has been going on for some time already and he’s just never mentioned it to anyone. You have nightmares of your own, of course: it would be stranger if you didn’t after all the time you’ve spent communing with horrorterrors and wrecking wanton destruction on pretty pastel architecture. They wax and wane with your hopes and fears about what you’ll find in the new session. You keep a record of them in one of your many Tomes of Holding and putting them into writing always helps pin down the writhing shadows in their dark corners. Your brother has no such outlet and it worries you.

Terezi has finally reached the hiccuping, teary-eyed end of her laughter and seems more bemused than anything by the odd behavior from her human traveling companions. As Seer of Mind, you suspect she knows what’s going on but not what to _do_ about it, which bothers her. The meddling runs deep in Seers as you well know.

So you give her something to do about it.

“Change of plans,” you announce. “This is now officially Shitty Human New Age Arts and Crafts time. Would you care to accompany me to Kanaya’s room to obtain the materials we will need?”

She gives you a barracuda’s grin. “That depends. Will there be _glitter_ involved?”

“Beads and feathers are more traditional, however I’m sure we could work it in somewhere.”

Twenty minutes later, you and Terezi are at a table in the common room, winding odds and ends of ribbon from Kanaya’s sewing scraps around alchemized embroidery hoops to form the frames of dreamcatchers. As you weave the spider’s web within and decorate it with only the most ironically spiritual spare buttons, garishly dyed chicken feathers, and random dollops of glitter gel paint, you talk to her about many things.

First, the cultures of Earth: those destroyed long ago and those that perished in the Reckoning. It’s good to think about these things often, now that there are exactly four people in existence to keep the memory of the human race alive.

Then, about imperialism and appropriation; it’s important to remember the faults of the old world if you’re to be the gods of a new one. Terezi is a surprisingly enthusiastic participant in the topic, as it appeals to her idiosyncratic sense of justice and balance.

Then, about the power of suggestion and the power of faith. You can’t say you have faith in the power inherent in your patched-together dreamcatcher any more than the power inherent in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. But it was made by a sister for her brother and by a protégé of magykkal beings for their chosen defender. It may yet prove to be more than a placebo.

Dave reappears, de-rumpled and hair still damp from the shower, about halfway through the process. At first he just slouches at the table with a cup of horrendous coffee but as he grows more alert (enough to actually taste the coffee and dump it out onto a nearby potted plant) he inserts the occasional dry comment into the conversation. Eventually he grabs an embroidery hoop and a length of purple ribbon, as casual as he can possibly make the action. In the process, he makes momentary eye contact with you just over the rims of his shades and acknowledges it with a slight nod of his head.

It’s all the thanks you’re going to get but it’s still enough that you know for certain the dreamcatcher will be hanging over his bed by evening.

**Author's Note:**

> [A brief explanation of the structure and function of dreamcatchers, as well as their problematic history of appropriation by New Age subculture.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher)
> 
> My first Homestuck fanfic, so I'm still working on getting the character voices down.


End file.
